I tried following a Keto diet for a month — here’s what happened

I tried following a Keto diet for a month — here's what happened

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

For as long as I can retrieve, I've never needed to restrict my food intake, or alter my eating habits. Notwithstanding, like many others, I couldn't escape gaining a few extra pounds over the past two years, later reaching for carb-based snacks to help carry me throughout various lockdowns.

A month ago, I was advised by a doctor to follow a completely new diet for health reasons. At the fourth dimension, I barely knew anything about the Keto diet, apart from occasionally bumping into depression-carb recipes on YouTube and TikTok. The idea of completely cutting out carbs scared me, simply the more I did my research, the more compelling it became.

Disclaimer: If y'all're reading this and are considering post-obit a Keto diet, nosotros'd advise a conscientious approach and a consultation with either your general practitioner or a nutritionist. This commodity is based strictly on personal experience.

What is Keto and what are the basics?

A ketogenic nutrition involves eating food that is high in fatty and low in carbs, while consuming an adequate amount of protein. Foods that fall nether this category include meat, poultry, eggs, fish, cheeses, basics, seeds, various butters and oils, equally well every bit depression-carb, high-fiber vegetables including, merely not limited to: broccoli, asparagus, cabbage, avocados, and lettuce. The Keto diet is by and large known to exist one of the about effective diets for weight loss.

Simply how exactly does Keto aid burn fatty any better than any other diet? Under normal circumstances, your body uses carbohydrates equally fuel. In Keto, the absenteeism of carbs encourages your liver to begin producing chemicals called ketones to help your body break down fats to use equally energy. This process typically occurs naturally while fasting or during long periods of exercise.

The well-nigh important part of going about Keto the right way is to know your macros. Macronutrients are dietary elements that make up your daily diet: fat, protein and carbohydrates. Strict keto allows eating no more than xx-fifty grams of net carbs per day, depending on the person in question. You'll also have to brand sure that yous're eating enough fats to go into ketosis. In order to find out the specific number for your daily macros and calorie goals, you'll have to use a TDEE figurer or have a nutritional good aid you lot.

Keto macronutrient goals — (Paradigm credit: Shutterstock)

This footstep is entirely optional, but I also combined Keto with intermittent fasting (IF). If you're unfamiliar, IF is a mutual practice that'due south ofttimes paired with depression-carb diets such as Keto that involves cycling between periods of fasting and eating throughout the day. By eating your terminal meal of the twenty-four hours in the evening, skipping the traditional breakfast in the morning and eating your first meal of the mean solar day in the afternoon instead, you essentially limit your eating window to only a few hours a day.

IF sounds incredibly tough at first, but information technology's a great way to make dieting easier considering how well-adjusted man bodies are to going without food for extended periods. In my example, I opted for a 20-hour fasting menses, significant I ate my first meal of the mean solar day at around v o'clock in the evening and had dinner by ix PM with a few small snacks in betwixt. Naturally, as is the instance with nearly things, information technology's recommended to give your body a bit of time to conform to IF. You can start off by skipping breakfast and gradually shifting your showtime meal of the solar day by an hour until you reach a fasting window that yous're comfortable with.

Now that I've covered the full general gist of both Keto and IF, let me swoop deep into how it went. It's important to note that every individual's body and lifestyle is different, then my personal experience won't predict how Keto and IF could become for you. Regardless, some of the points below are useful for anyone who's considering going full on Keto, so do make certain to continue that in listen.

Post-obit a Keto diet: the cons

Keto flu

If there's one con of the Keto diet that I absolutely despise, it'due south the so-chosen "keto flu". The term is generally used for when you're feeling unwell for the first calendar week(s) on Keto. The symptoms differ depending on the person, just for me, information technology involved extreme fatigue, headaches and dizziness. Some symptoms are like to what y'all feel when you lot first grab a cold or a flu, hence the name of the term. It sounds horrible, just information technology usually goes away within the first week or so. In my example, it lasted a piffling longer, since I combined my diet with a sudden change to intermittent fasting.

Hard on mental health

Keto will probably be easier for people who have followed strict diets before, but for a novice similar myself, it was really tough. fifty am the kind of person who finds joy in food, and to put it lightly, there are very few Keto-friendly dishes that really hit the spot. Plus, counting calories and keeping track of every consumed drop of food or potable is tiring. Non to mention the feet you may feel whenever you exceed your calorie goal, or when you're triple-checking that the barista at Starbucks added sugar-complimentary caramel syrup to your java gild, and not the regular loftier-glucose one.

Be sure to stride into this nutrition with a calm mindset and accept that mistakes are normal, especially if y'all're going Keto for the first time. During Keto, hormone levels of cortisol (too called the stress hormone) may ascension if you don't swallow plenty or requite yourself enough fourth dimension to relax. For me, fifty-fifty something as simple every bit walking my dog while sipping on peppermint tea helped a lot.

About no eating out

The sad truth is that unfortunately, at that place aren't many keto-friendly restaurants effectually. Of course, this depends on where y'all're based, simply I had a lot of problem finding suitable restaurants in London. As much as I wanted to find anything other than steakhouses and salad bars, I couldn't observe anywhere that offered the eating out experience I was used to. I'm guessing that right now, due to a lack of demand, the hospitality manufacture isn't exactly optimized for keto eaters.

Following a keto diet: the pros

High free energy levels and fewer cravings

Afterwards the Keto flu settled, I eventually started noticing a spike in my energy levels, especially when I was notwithstanding fasting — though I'thousand not sure whether that I can aspect this entirely to keto, intermittent fasting, or both. Regardless, most two weeks in I started to feel energized and at times even hyper before I'd had my forenoon java. I've never been a morning person, but it felt good to feel so productive. Another benefit was that I almost entirely stopped craving carbs and sugary foods virtually three weeks in. At one bespeak, I started existence able to sit with my friends as they ate my favorite thin-crust Neapolitan pizza without the temptation to take a single seize with teeth.

Weight loss is a bonus

I have to admit, Keto lives up to its reputation. Information technology's a great way to shave off a few actress pounds in a short amount of time. In four weeks, I managed to lose xiii pounds in total, with the majority dropping within the first two weeks. Most 3 weeks in, the weight loss started to slow, but this is entirely normal — losing weight on Keto isn't always consequent and doesn't follow a linear regression. As long as you lot're eating less calories than you are called-for, yous should however be losing weight. I found that my water retention varied throughout the month, which affected my weight on the scales, since our bodies can retain more h2o than usual depending on factors such as hormone levels, stress, lack of sleep and more.

Creative recipes

There's a popular misconception that dieting on Keto is extremely tiresome — I entirely disagree. Just like with any other diet or attribute of your life, it is what you make of information technology. I had my reservations at first too — I couldn't bear the thought of not having fruit or root vegetables for an unabridged calendar month, let alone giving up carbs like pasta and bread. Turns out, you don't have to deprive yourself of your favorite dishes. If you simply add the give-and-take "keto" to your Google search next to the name of your favorite dish, y'all'll find a low-carb version of it that you can experiment with, so long as you don't break the dietary restrictions and hit your macro goals. I, for one, indulged myself in eggplant lasagna, cauliflower cheese bakes, cheesecakes, burgers and even chocolate mousses. Hell, I fifty-fifty put together a few of the recipes myself. In that location's tons of recipes out in that location, and personally, figuring them out has fabricated cooking every bit fun equally e'er. Plus, you tin can save then much money by eating in.

Following a keto diet: the lesser line

My Keto experience was positive, but far from platonic. Trying to become an entire calendar month carb-free was frustrating, and although the cravings settled down in a few weeks' time, the temptation was particularly overwhelming in December, with Christmas markets popping up nearly everywhere in London. Still, I felt like my self-control improved the longer I was on Keto. Afterwards all, why would I "cheat" subsequently all this time?

The best thing almost my experience wasn't just the diet alone, it was the combination of Keto and IF that truly made information technology work. Personally, I don't think I could stick to Keto in the long-term. Despite it being smashing equally a short-term weight-loss aid and detox from carbohydrates, I imagine the consequence that it had on my mental health would be more difficult to manage over a longer catamenia of time. Intermittent fasting, on the other hand, definitely worked for my body and I volition continue to stick to information technology in the new year's day.

I must clarify again that this is only based on my personal experience, and then if you lot're trying to decide whether Keto is for yous, it'southward worth consulting with your general practitioner first.

Denise is a news writer at Tom's Guide covering all things tech, gaming software/hardware, streaming, and more than. She regularly produces short-form news articles every bit well equally long-course content, including reviews, buying guides, how-tos, and features. When she's not alive-streaming horror games on Twitch, she can be plant exploring E London while playing Pokemon Go. She'south likewise a part-fourth dimension piano enthusiast and regularly experiments in the kitchen. You can attain her at denise.primbet@futurenet.com.